forum: Gardening / Growing

Edible flowers

I was wondering what flowers we have all eaten.

I have eaten.....

Nastursiums flowers, they have a slight peppery taste, they look very pretty on a salad.

Pansey flowers..to me did not taste of very much , but again they are realy beautifull in a salad as they are all so different. I have frozen little panseys in blocks of ice before, they look pretty n a drink at a party or when visitors call. I have also made 'ice bowls' in the past with panseys and other flowers frozen into the ice..realy pretty .

Clover flowers, the little little fluffy heads on these flowers have an interesting texture!!

I am not sure if you are meant to eat then but...Elderberry flowers.. I have made wine with elderberry flowers, I tried eating them a couple times in a salad but I was not keen on them (I was a student at the timeand 'food for free was all the rage ! )

There are flowering vegetables that we all know..broccoli,cauliflower , purple sprouting etc.

I did not know untill recently that you could eat courgette flowers, I can imagine the texture of the flower if it is eaten fresh, but, can anyone tell me what sort of texture that they have if they are cooked ..for example battered and fried... ( I have been wondering this as I think that the texture of the petal might go a little ...dare I say it...slimy ...but be held together by a batter.... any idea anyone ?

So ...what floweres have we all eaten..and what do you know is edible.

Re: Edible flowers

Re: Edible flowers

The courgette flowers certainly go a bit soft after they've been battered and fried, but not unpleasantly so. The bit down by the stalk stays quite crunchy. I seem to remember years ago dipping bunches of elderflowers in batter and frying them and then serving them with a sprinkling of sugar. You can also add elder flowers to gooseberries when cooking them and get a lovely muscat grape flavour.

Re: Edible flowers

I love elderflower cordial, I have had elderflower icecream and I have made elderfower wine in the past.. but elderberry flowers battered and fried.. I have not had.. I might try this next year if I see some elderberry trees. Can't say that I was at all impressed with elderberry flowers ,fresh, in a salad though.

Re: Edible flowers

Have you ever made an 'Ice Bowl' frizz... made by

getting 2 bowls the same shape as each other , (one bowl being about 2 sizes smaller than the other,)Put a some water in the base of the larger bowl and then place the smaller bowl ontop of the water so that it floats and the rims are the same height.(don't forget to leave a bit of a gap at the top as it expands as the ice freezes)Fix the inner bowl to the outer bowl with a lengths of sellotape in about 4 places so that it inner bowl remains central.Very carefully place some edible flowers and herbs between the gaps and so that they are submerged into the water and they are 'tucked in' all around the bowlplace in the freezer . It takes quite a long time for it to freeze solid.

When frozen ..and you are ready to use it.. remove from the freezer and some warm water into the center bowl so that it loosens and can be removedrun some warm water over the outside of the outer bowl and remove that also..

Voila..an ice bowl. These look so pretty on the table as they look like thick glass with flowers encased inside.

You can use these to serve icecream of anything that you want kept chilled... however , they do melt so they do not last for hours as a table display!!!

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